You may have first heard of the Zumba phenomenon reading about celebs like Natalie Portman, Emma Watson and Victoria Beckham falling in love with the Colombian dance fitness program, but now you can give it a shot yourself while fighting cancer at the same time.
On Oct. 13 the Party in Pink: Movin' to End Breast Cancer “Zumbathon” charity event will take place at the Innisfail Middle School gym from 7-8:30 p.m. The minimum donation is $20 and will go to support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Global Promise Fund.
“It's all for breast cancer,” said Ilona Eggink, a local Zumba fit instructor who started teaching the Latin fusion program here three years ago. “It's a dance fitness event.”
It was at the Zumba World Conference, surrounded by her Zumba Instructor Network peers, that Ilona got revved up to take on the disease that represents 26 percent of all cancer cases in Canadian women.
“They try to get people doing all these charity events,” she said. “They party for breast cancer.”
It was the concept of a fun-filled aerobic method of facing off against a scourge which will affect one in nine women over the course of their lifetime that really kicked her organizing efforts into high gear.
“I started this as soon as I came back,” she said. “I try to make a little bit of a difference in Innisfail.”
Zumba has been a powerful tool, as well, for many women who are going through the difficult process of dealing with breast cancer, she said.
“Zumba helped them through this difficult time,” she said. “You dance, you move, you forget about your illness.”
Even District 35 instructor Damara Lopez will be at the charity dance event.
“It's going to be a party in pink,” she said. “It's so much fun.”
